YMCA England & Wales has today launched an innovative digital platform, created by Trust Impact, where local authorities, members of the public and those in need can access a live picture of accommodation provided in their area: http://impact.ymca.org.uk
More than 4,000 YMCA accommodation units feed their data directly into the digital dashboard, providing real-time updates which allow users to click on a specific YMCA for a clear and accurate picture of how many people are currently being housed there.
This data is also used to capture other key elements of YMCA support, offering insight into the average stay within their accommodation, as well as not only the number of people who have been supported to move into independent living, but the type of accommodation they have moved on to.
YMCA is the largest voluntary sector provider of supported housing for young people in England and Wales, providing a bed for 8,800 people each night and collectively helping more than 20,000 people experiencing homelessness each year.
One of the challenges of operating as such a vast federation is tracking and highlighting the progress and collective support provided by YMCA as a whole across two countries. In response to this challenge, Trust Impact created a live data collection and visualisation system which automatically collates data from each local YMCA in real-time, translating it into a consistent format and then feeding into an interactive data visualisation.
Denise Hatton, Chief Executive of YMCA England & Wales said:
“Like any organisation with a federated structure, we faced significant difficulties when trying to collate and showcase the amazing support provided by our local charities across England and Wales.
“The creation of this live dashboard not only allows us to capture the extent and impact of the work being done by our incredible YMCAs, it makes us more visible to those in need of support, and offers positivity and drive to current residents when looking at those who have previously moved on to independent living. It is a truly revolutionary picture of the work being done on the ground every day, and we can’t wait to offer the same insight into all YMCA work areas.”
Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Managing Director and Founder of Trust Impact said:
“Trust Impact exists to help charities visualise their impact, simply. We have been delighted to work with YMCA England & Wales on this housing dashboard to do just that, and look forward to taking this further to reflect the rest of the work being done by YMCAs.”
Following the launch of their accommodation-specific impact dashboard, YMCA England & Wales and Trust Impact intend to expand and reflect the support and opportunities across all YMCA work areas in the future, namely Family Work, Training & Education, Health & Wellbeing and Support & Advice.